Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao – This Bao Packs a Punch!

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The Crystal Jade restaurants are so ubiquitous these days you can’t go to a popular shopping mall without seeing one. The chain is so popular it has even divided into different specialisations. There’s Crystal Jade Kitchen, Crystal Jade Palace, Crystal Jade Bakery, Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao, Crystal Jade Shanghai Cuisine Hu Cui, etc. Recently, they have even gone Express! To think this was only my second time visiting any Crystal Jade outlet at all.

For drinks, we ordered their home-made longan drink, which came along with white fungi. It was a refreshing change from the usual lemon tea, and a very healthy drink at the same time.

Longan Drink with White Fungi

Longan Drink with White Fungi (龙眼雪耳糖水)
SGD3++

There were so many food items on the menu that we had a really hard time deciding what we wanted; each one looked as yummy as the next! After much deliberation, we went with the following items.

Spicy & Sour Soup in Sichuan Style

Spicy & Sour Soup in Sichuan Style (四川酸辣汤)
SGD6++

When the Sichuan soup came, I was alarmed to find such a small portion for $6; barely enough for one! But it certainly didn’t disappoint. There was just the right amount of spiciness and the right amount of tang, a good complement to the milder xiao long bao (steamed pork dumpling) that we ordered. I guess anything that is cooked sichuan style can’t go wrong!

Shanghai Steamed Pork Dumpling

Shanghai Steamed Pork Dumpling (上海小笼包)
SGD3.60++

Despite it being the house specialty, I didn’t really like the Shanghai steamed pork dumpling that much. It was just okay for me. I did wonder how it was wrapped though, since it was extremely soupy on the inside.

Beijing Pork Dumpling

Beijing Pork Dumpling (北京水饺)
SGD4.50++

The Beijing pork dumpling fared better. Less soupy than its Shanghainese counterpart, but more savory overall. Oh yeah it’s a fraction cheaper too!

Sauteed Chicken in Spicy Sauce

Sauteed Chicken in Spicy Sauce (宫保鸡丁)
SGD10++

The spicy chicken dish is a very popular dish at Chinese restaurants and hawker stalls. I have eaten the same dish at various places before, but this was the first time the chicken came along with cashew nuts! It was simply delightful!

The best part about the meal (besides the yumminess) was that we didn’t have to wait much. Even though Crystal Jade is quite notorious for always having long queues, we were there past 4pm and were ushered to a good window seat pretty quickly. Once placing our orders, the food came fast with minimal waiting time.

This definitely won’t be the last time I visit Crystal Jade!

Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao (翡翠拉面小笼包)
Various outlets
crystaljade.com

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About the Author

Veron Ang is the founder and chief editor of Sparklette. She lives in Singapore and has dined and traveled across the world. She also runs Sparklette Studio, a web design and development firm. If you'd like to connect with her, head on over to the contact page or follow her personal updates on Twitter: @VeronSG.

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16 responses

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Chup
May 18

glad you like the food =)
Reply
Veron
May 18

thanks for the meal chup =)
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harrison
May 19

crystal jade was once a classy chinese restaurant…then one day, my friend noticed that because of its ubiquity, people were allowed to enter wearing sandals and really casual wear. To him, that kind of degraded the classiness of the place.
But everytime we’re there, xiao long bao is always the default appetiser! Their prawn dumpling noodles are also very good – the prawns are just so juicy and succulent! Also, their various fried rice dishes are very fragrant and certainly different from the usual egg-and-meat fare in hawker centres. I tried the scallop-and-crab-meat one: yummy!
Reply
Veron
May 20

Crystal Jade still looks like a classy place. The waiters/resses are quite professional in their service. The only thing that makes it less classy would be, like you said, the patrons! But I guess it’s not exactly an upmarket restaurant (except for Crystal Jade Palace perhaps) so I’m fine with people going in in slacks!
I haven’t tried enough of their food I think. A must-try next time: their home-pulled la mian!
Reply
chup
May 20

maybe other then food and service rating, you can have a ambience rating also..
Reply
Veron
May 20

great idea!
Reply
chup
May 20

yeah~
Reply
[G]
May 22

Cool site revamp! :)
Keep up de fab work.
Reply
Veron
May 22

I will!
Reply
redstars
August 9

i stmbled upon tis website juz want to comment so beautiful sia heee hee :)
so nice here food, movies, songs, travels, veron so pretty too kekeke :D
Reply
Veron
August 10

always glad to know i have something to offer. thanks for those nice words!
Reply
iwan
August 14

Wow!! Ur site looks so beautiful!!! the 1st time i saw it, i was captivated by it… hahaha!
Btw, which xiaolong bao restaurant is good lei? am goin to treat my frens there on my birthday, but dunno which outlet… any suggestions???
thanks !!
Reply
Veron
August 14

Thanks! I like Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao and frequent the Great World City outlet as there are less people and the service is excellent. Din Tai Fung’s xiao long bao is comparatively not as good.
Reply
hana
December 28

i ate at Crystal jade kitchen- holland village 2 times. at that time i didnt know different outlet has different specialities and tastes. therefore, i just ordered normal food like wanton noodle or pordrige, quite boring. maybe have to try again. heard that “la mian” at la mian xiao long bao is very nice ^^
Reply
Jared Lim
February 23

crystal jade is a rip off compared to din tai fung
dtf’s xiao long pao is like the must have…dipped in vinager and eaten with ginger ….yeah..
the bad point is that if ure eating on a weekend during dinner time… u’ll probably spend most of your time waiting for your seats…they take numbers….
i rate it a 6/10
Reply
Raspberry
October 21

Service is very bad! They need to buck up. Especially with similar restaurants like Imperial Treasure, Old HK, Ah Yat, Tung Lok group around. Strange that they are slipping in the face of stiffer competition.
Reply